Patient, Public & Media Information

Delivering on Member Value, AAOS Releases 2018 Annual Report

The AAOS 2018 Annual Report, “Delivering on the Promise of Member Value,” was released during the AAOS 2019 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. It is AAOS’ first Annual Report in more than 25 years. In his speech during the meeting’s Your Academy 2019 event, 2018–2019 AAOS President David A. Halsey, MD, encouraged attendees to read the report, which is available at aaos.org/AnnualReport.

A new way to communicate with members

AAOS is built upon the energy, experience, and commitment of its members. Their support enables the Academy to consistently deliver value that benefits its members, patients, and the orthopaedic profession. AAOS continually explores new ways to communicate and share education, advocacy, benefits, and key achievements with members and the public. The Annual Report is an opportunity to reflect on AAOS’ progress over the past year in bringing the highest level of value to its members and reaffirming its dedication to enhance such value in the years to come.

2018 accomplishments

In 2018, AAOS delivered on its promise to provide value to its members and to continue strengthening its foundation to lead orthopaedics into the future.

For example, AAOS dramatically increased member value with new benefits, such as re-launching an enhanced Orthopaedic Video Theater as a free member benefit and adding hundreds of surgical technique modules across specialties for online learning. The Academy also doubled the publication of the Journal of the AAOS—the most read orthopaedic clinical review journal (Kantar Media 2018)—to 24 issues annually.

The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR)—the cornerstone of the AAOS Registry Program—is the largest registry in orthopaedics, with more than 1.4 million hip and knee arthroplasty procedures by annual procedural count. Among other achievements, AJRR integrated Medicare claims data to reflect more than 50 survivorship curves. AAOS also launched the Shoulder & Elbow Registry and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry Pilot last year, as it continues to build a family of registries to support high-quality patient care and strengthen the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ advocacy work.

From a broader advocacy perspective, the AAOS-led Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act (H.R. 302) became law in October 2018, Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement was downsized, and the mandatory Surgical Hip/Femur Fracture Treatment payment model was cancelled. AAOS also secured unprecedented guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to remove total knee arthroplasty from the Medicare inpatient-only list.

Advocacy wins were supported by the success and influence of the Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (OrthoPAC), which raised a historic $4 million for the 2018 election cycle. The OrthoPAC celebrated its 20th birthday in February at its zenith in contributions, member support, and ability to provide AAOS with access to legislative and regulatory forums to deliver advocacy impact.

Strengthening the foundation for the future

AAOS developed and approved a new five-year Strategic Plan in December 2018. The 2019–2023 plan recognizes that AAOS must lead the way to define musculoskeletal care and influence future changes in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment to deliver the strongest value for its members, their patients, and the profession.

The newly updated vision reflects an ambitious direction for the Academy’s future as the trusted leaders in advancing musculoskeletal health. AAOS will continue to evolve its culture, better understand members’ needs, advocate for their best interests, and enhance the member experience.

In 2018, the AAOS Board of Directors also adopted its first set of Governance Principles to meaningfully engage the membership, effectively lead the Academy, and do both with efficiency and excellence. The principles specify how the Board of Directors will be structured and governed to support a more nimble, decisive, and results-oriented organization.

Building upon its tradition of orthopaedic partnership, AAOS held two summits with specialty societies last year and created principles of partnership to help further grow and solidify valued relationships with specialty societies.

AAOS is proud of its many accomplishments in 2018 and could not have been successful without the continued dedication and support of its many volunteers and staff. AAOS is excited to pursue the new Strategic Plan, continue to grow member value, and work together to achieve the new vision.